While the RIAA has objected to a tool for downloading online videos, EFF senior activist Elliot Harmon responds with this question. “Who died and put them in charge of YouTube?” He asks the question in a new video “explainer” on the controversy, and argues in a new piece at EFF.org that the youtube-dl tool “doesn’t infringe on any RIAA copyrights.” RIAA’s…
Tag: fair use
Google Gets Mixed Reception in High Court Clash With Oracle
Alphabet’s Google got a mixed reception at the U.S. Supreme Court as it sought to overturn a ruling that could force the company to pay billions of dollars for improperly using Oracle’s copyrighted code in the Android operating system. From a report: Holding a low-tech telephone session in one of the biggest software fights in American history, the justices on Wednesday…
Facebook and Twitter Remove Manipulated Video From Trump’s Accounts After DMCA Complaint
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Facebook has removed a manipulated video posted on President Trump’s account after receiving a copyright complaint from the rights owners. The manipulated video shows a black toddler running away from a white toddler, with a CNN chyron reading “terrified toddler runs from racist baby.” The original video, which went viral last year,…
Netflix Loses Bid To Dismiss $25 Million Lawsuit Over ‘Black Mirror: Bandersnatch’
On Tuesday, Netflix lost a bid to escape a lawsuit brought by the trademark owner of “Choose Your Own Adventure” over the 2018 immersive film Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. The series’ original publisher, Chooseco, sued the company early last year for $25 million in damages, as the company says that Netflix’s new movie benefits from association with the Choose Your Own Adventure…
EFF Files Amicus Brief In Google v. Oracle, Arguing APIs Are Not Copyrightable
Areyoukiddingme writes: EFF has filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in Google v. Oracle, arguing that APIs are not copyrightable. From the press release: “The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today asked the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that functional aspects of Oracle’s Java programming language are not copyrightable, and even if they were, employing them to create new…
Ask Slashdot: Would You Pay To Subscribe To YouTube?
Long-time Slashdot reader shanen writes:
If you don’t watch YouTube, then more power to you, but if you do watch it, then I bet you have noticed more and more intrusive and noisy and much longer ads along with frequent reminders that you can pay up and make the noise go away. Feels like extortion to me and I’m not going to…
Top Oracle Lawyer Attempting To Gaslight Entire Software Community: Insists APIs Are Executable
Mike Masnick, reporting for TechDirt: Last week, the Solicitor General of the White House weighed in on Google’s request for the Supreme Court to overturn the Federal Circuit’s ridiculously confused ruling in the Oracle/Google case concerning the copyrightability of APIs (and whether or not repurposing them is fair use). Not surprisingly, as the Solicitor General has been siding with Oracle all…
Redditor Allowed To Stay Anonymous, Court Rules
Online free speech has been given a victory, with a federal court ruling that a Redditor can remain anonymous in a copyright lawsuit. From a report: This means anyone from around the globe who posts on Reddit can still rely on First Amendment protections for anonymous free speech, because Reddit is a US platform with a US audience. The Electronic Frontier…